Changing gravel, can I do that?

[SharpieItBlack]

I have an established 30 gallon with a cutesy pie Jack the telescope goldfish!
Anyway when I first set up the upgrade I thought mixed red and black gravel, genius! Now not so much... It clashes with my tank decor and the fake green plants... I want to keep the black, but the red is evenly mixed in so separating it would take forever.
Is it even safe to replace gravel? Like say during a water change, siphon out the usual 30% ish of water, take out decorations and scoop out gravel and replace it with new washed gravel, then replace the decor and then fill the tank with new water?
Or would that stress my goldfish... I should've thought it through but it just looks bad. And I want to submit to a photo contest here, but not with the gravel situation I have.
Any ideas?

 

[jhawk__]

Do exactly what you said above ^^^ if you can, take the goldfish out and move him to a different tank or a large bucket/container while you make the swap.

 

[SharpieItBlack]

I thought it's not healthy to remove the fish from the tank? The only time I've sorta done this was when I upgraded the tank. I got a large bowl scooped him in it with water and sat it in the new tank until he swam out. I just got rid of his health problems like ich and stuff, just don't want to stress him out by removing him. But if that's really ok, I'll do that

 

[jlk]

Just prepare everything first. Make sure the new gravel is well washed and ready to go and that you have a plan for removing the old gravel (means & place to put it). Remove the Goldie to large bucket of tank water by picking him gently with two hands by his tummy. Drain atleast half the tank, remove the old stuff & replace. Refill with conditioned, temperature matched to the bucket water (which may cool a bit). Turn everything back on. Gently pick the goldie back up and place him back in the tank. It shouldn't take anymore than hour from start to finish.

 

[Jmunroe]

Don't remove the fish from the tank. I don't know why people advise to do this when changing substrate. I've changed substrate dozens and dozens of times over a lot of years and never removed fish. Just take a little care and work around them. They will stay out of the way and far less stressful than removing them from the tank. The exception may be if you have extremely skittish fish( ive never had fish that skittish)and they run the risk of hurting themselves by darting into things. Do it during your water change, scooping the old out and replacing with well rinsed new. Most of the time fish didn't care and any that did were fine after a few minutes and went to work trying eat stuff you stir up.

 

[bkiggy]

I've thought about changing from gravel to sand. I'm scared to do it. It's for the benefit if Cory's . They are super skittish and dart around

 

[Jmunroe]

Move all decor to one end of the tank and they will hide in amongst it. Do that end then move the decor to the other end and repeat.

 

[bkiggy]

What is a super soft sand for Corys

 

[Angel_fish]

Yeah u can. Just like u said though take the fish out when doing it... Kinda a given. The only thing i would recommend leaving in some of the original gravel, just because the bacteria is already there. Not alot and preferably at the bottom. It sucks when youre repopulating the microbs, dont make it too stressful for them.

 

[jlk]

Don't remove the fish from the tank. I don't know why people advise to do this when changing substrate. I've changed substrate dozens and dozens of times over a lot of years and never removed fish. Just take a little care and work around them. They will stay out of the way and far less stressful than removing them from the tank. The exception may be if you have extremely skittish fish( ive never had fish that skittish)and they run the risk of hurting themselves by darting into things. Do it during your water change, scooping the old out and replacing with well rinsed new. Most of the time fish didn't care and any that did were fine after a few minutes and went to work trying eat stuff you stir up.

It really depends on the type of fish. My goldies are handled on a biweekly basis for water changes and are not stressed in the slightest. Most goldie breeders remove their fish daily because they change 100% of the daily. Changing gravel with a slow, clumsy curious fish with delicate eyes is inherently more risky than simply removing him from the tank for hour or less.

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